Home Is Where The Heart Is
by lordfreakinraptorVo
Summary: After Silver defeats her for the first time, she feels she's losing her touch.  She chooses to go back to her home so she can retrain herself and her pokemon, but at the expense that she may not see him again.  Oneshot, implied Silver/oc.


**Disclaimer: Silver, Gold, Crystal, Lyra/Kotone and Pokemon are Game Freak/Nintendo's. My OC belongs to me.**

They battled inside the Dragon's Den, an intense fight that had both of their hearts pounding from the suspense. One of the trainers called out the command to his feraligatr to use Hydro Cannon, and the other trainer's Pokemon was hit head one, already weakened from prevoius attack she had been unable to dodge. The gardevoir stopped levitating, having reached her limit. The brunette smiled slightly as she returned gardevoir to her ball, whispering praise to it as she did so. The red-haired boy's feraligatr trembled slightly as it stood on all fours, and his owner's silver eyes widened in surprise.

"Congratulations, Silver. You've finally beaten me."

He flopped onto the wooden floor, silent, until the thought processed in his mind. He, Silver, had finally defeated his rival. The girl walk toward him and extended her hand, still smiling.

"You weren't holding back, were you?" He knew she wasn't but he still couldn't believe it.

"No, I didn't." He looked at her hand and to her garnet eyes tinted with pink, and back to her hand. He took it and she helped lift him up. At first, she was watching him as he returned his feraligatr as well, but her thoughts began to wander.

_First Lyra took my place as the Johto League Champion, and now my rival has surpassed me. Seems like it's back home for us, guys. _To Silver, it appeared as if she spaced out as he was standing again.

"Uhm." he coughed loudly as to get her attention. She turned her head to him and looked down, the smile still on her face. "Silver."

"Yeah?"

"Close your eyes for a bit. And don't peek." He raised an eyebrow, until he reluctantly did as she said.

She fumbled for something in her worn-out bag until she felt something smooth and round. Silver felt it being pressed into his palms, and she spoke to him. "You can open your eyes now." He did and he looked at the object. It was a a dark red lanyard with a pokeball charm about the size of a minimized one. He placed it in his pocket.

The girl spoke again. "Promise me something, okay?"

"What is it?"

"Just answer."

He hesitated. "...Sure."

"Take good care of her, will you?" He gave the garnet-eyed girl a quizzical look. _Is she talking about the lanyard? _She smirked at him jokingly. "You'll find out what I'm talking about soon." They began walking to the nearest Pokemon Center, both quiet.

The next morning, she had her Arcanine out, already mounted on it, while he stood looking up at them.

"Where are you going now?" he asked. She looked down at him from the Arcanine. "I'm meeting up with Lyra, Gold, and Crystal in Olivine later today."

She would tell him only that much.

"How about you, Silver?"

He hesitated. "I don't really know. I guess I'll just wander around as usual. Wanna have a rematch some time later when you're back from Olivine?"

She smiled sadly. "We'll see, Silver." He gave her another questioning look, similar to the one from the day before. She smirked, petting Arcanine's mane. "I hope I'll meet up with you again!" She shouted to him before she was off. "Kay! Extreme Speed to Olivine - scenic route!" he smirked slightly at her nickname for the large dog.

A single tear escaped her eye, but it was dried from the wind on her face as she continued smiling. They had just arrived at Goldenrod City, and the sun had risen higher after they left Ilex forest. She wanted to try to revisit some places she came to throughout her journey in Jhoto before reaching Olivine.

Silver arrived in Ecruteak at noon by foot, wearing the lanyard she gave him, and he twirled the charm between his index and middle fingers. _I should've gone, too. _It was already dusk, and he stood there for a moment, looking at the sky.

Suddenly it clicked in his mind. Remembering the info he saw on her Trainer Card, he recalled that Garnet was from Hoenn, and Olivine was a port city. She was going back, and he just figured it out. Quickly, he sent out his honchkrow and said one command. "Honchrow, Fly to Olivine City, and fast!"

"Krow!" was all that it said as Silver held onto it's talons and they rose into the darkning sky.

The three trainers in front of Silver, who had ran to the dock from the Pokemon Center, waved as the S.S Anne sailed away into the horizon slowly, oblivious to Silver, until they heard his quiet panting and turned. Gold walked to him and stood in front of the red-head. "And, where were _you_ at?"

"I didn't know." _I didn't even say goodbye._

"Hey, is that a pokeball?" Lyra inquired, trying to relieve some of the building tension in the air. Silver looked at the lanyard he wore. "Huh?" He opened the pokeball, releasing the held pokemon with a red light. Before the four trainers stood a pokemon that they've never seen before.

The Vibrava's wings and eyes were orange, and it looked at Silver expectantly as it sparkled once. There was mail attached to it's neck, and he bent down to remove it.

_Yo Silver, _

_I'm guessing you've figured by now that I've gone back to Hoenn. When you beat me yesterday, it made me remember something. Johto may feel like home, but my heart is in Hoenn. Knowing you, this may seem like I'm doing something extreme, but I've noticed that recently my skills as a trainer become dull after Lyra beat me as well, at the Indigo League. I'm not angry or sad that I lost, rather I feel.. content with this. I promise you, if we ever meet again, we'll have a rematch. I hope that when - and if - that time comes, you've become stronger. I'll be stronger as well. After all, I'll be home, where my heart belongs. I'm landing at Slateport, and I'll be staying there for a while, I think. Come visit, if you want, I guess._

_I never really said or implied romantic feelings towards you - well, except that one time when we stopped Mr. Giovanni - but if we never see each other again, I want you to know something. I think I love you, Silver. And I never let you know until now. I didn't want to become attached to anyone in Johto, knowing I had to leave at some point. And that time is now._

_Best wishes,_

_Your "rival"._

_P.S. She's a vibrava, native to Hoenn but with a different colouration than usual, I think. Her name's Vivi._

Silver looked up to see the other three looking at him. "Are you okay?" Was what Crystal said. Silver closed his eyes an smirked. "I'm fine." He picked up Vivi in one arm and with the other, waved to them without looking back. "See you later, I'm heading back to Viridian."

_After all, home is where the heart is..._

_My Garnet._

**Woahh that's a lot of foreshadowing here, mate. x) Cheers to anyone reading this noticed all of the hints and all that jazz. brb gonna sit in a corner orz.**

**I know Silver seems really out of character here, but I mean't for this to be written after he learns to be kind to his pokemon in HGSS. So I apologize for the massive OOC. m(_ _)m**


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